Mental Health Challenges We Don’t Talk About Enough

In recent years, the dialogue around general mental health has shifted to promote greater community awareness and improve support accessibility. While honouring and celebrating that growth is important, many concerns remain stigmatized. 

Societal, cultural, or familial shame regarding mental health can exacerbate mental health struggles by further emphasizing loneliness and discouraging folks from reaching out for help. Unspoken burdens can also cause profoundly damaging feelings of isolation and despair – heightening the risk of more severe or prolonged harm.

Why don’t we talk about certain mental health issues?

Whether rooted in the fear of judgement, rejection, being fully seen, or otherwise, suffering in silence is a uniquely exhausting emotional process detrimental to our well-being. 

Although it can help to talk things out with a trusted friend, family member, or qualified professional, disclosing experiences that still feel taboo may feel like a big risk. 

Not everyone will be equipped to respond in an ideal way to conversations about mental health. But that doesn’t mean there’s something “wrong” or “weird” with the person struggling. 

The human experience is remarkably complex, and most of us would likely be surprised by how much shared pain we keep hidden from others. 

So, to help normalize the human experience, let’s shed some light on some common mental health challenges we don’t talk about enough. 

Nightmares

When did you last have a vivid, disturbing dream that stuck with you even after waking up? Maybe you had a fever dream the last time you were sick or endured night terrors as a child. Healthy adults may also have occasional nightmares associated with acute or chronic stress. 

However, frequent nightmares as an adult can occur in tandem with several physiological and mental health conditions like depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, PTSD, and sleep disorders, among others. 

Several medications also list nightmares and vivid dreams as side effects. We may know, cognitively, that dreams are not real. So what’s the big deal?

Nocturnal stress response

Stressful or frightening stimuli during a rest state can be particularly troubling because while your conscious self knows that dreams aren’t real, your nervous system can’t differentiate between a perceived threat and a real one. 

As a result, you may physiologically enter a stress response state of fight or flight during a nightmare. You might notice you wake up in a cold sweat, breathing rapidly with your heart pounding and a little lightheaded from the rush of stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline. 

Nightmares tend to be looked upon as childhood relics when, in fact, many adults experience significant distress related to the haunting images and scenarios of their dark dreams. 

Some folks even experience shame regarding the content of their nightmares, which is often beyond our control. The result? Chronic sleep disruption and deprivation, elevated stress, reduced well-being, and feelings of loneliness or isolation.

Complicated grief

When we think of grief, most of us call to mind experiences related to death and funerals. Navigating the death of a loved one can be devastating, and it’s often something you cannot fully understand until you have faced it yourself. 

As such, there can be a societal expectation that grief should have a time limit – many workplaces offer a 2-day bereavement period as if that is sufficient time to grieve and reintegrate into “normal” life. 

While some folks value any semblance of normalcy following a loss, this is not always true. Sometimes, we feel pressured to put on a brave face to avoid making others uncomfortable.

And what happens when grieving someone with whom you had a difficult relationship? You may have conflicting feelings like frustration at how they treated you during their life and simultaneously mourn their loss. Since it is typically considered in poor taste to “speak ill of the dead,” some people might feel ashamed of this internal conflict. 

Ambiguous loss

Another form of complicated grief, coined by Dr. Pauline Goss, is ambiguous loss, which refers to grieving someone who is still alive but either physically or emotionally unavailable. For example, loved ones of those with dementia often feel the hurt and sadness of grief when symptoms first arise because the person they knew, though still living, is no longer “there” in the same capacity. 

You might also experience ambiguous loss after breaking contact with someone you care about due to geographical separation, conflict, harm, or boundary-setting.  

Disenfranchised grief

Disenfranchised grief, such as the loss of a beloved pet, is also overlooked in the discussion of grief because it is considered less significant and, therefore, less socially acceptable. 

However, pets are an integral part of the family for many people. As such, grieving the companionship of a close animal can be an overwhelming and deeply devastating experience that is not met with the same understanding or compassion, which compounds the loneliness and depression one might feel. 

Conclusion

Addressing these often-overlooked mental health challenges is crucial for fostering a supportive and compassionate society. Speaking openly about our struggles can break the stigma and encourage others to seek the help they need.

If you or someone you know is experiencing any of these mental health challenges, don’t hesitate to reach out for support. Book a free consultation with a Culminate therapist today to discuss your concerns and start your journey toward well-being.